The Fateful Game
by LoreenaLaufeyson
Summary: "I can't believe you people are playing this game. What are you, a bunch of twelve-year-old girls?" Kazuya said. Kuramochi leaned back on his hands, looking at Kazuya with a smirk. "It may be a stupid game, but it's fun. You can ask the most embarrassing questions, and make people do your bidding. Isn't that the perfect game for you, Captain?" (MiyuSawa with fluff!)


[Traduction française par **Arlia Eien** disponible sur FFnet: (slash)s(slash)12620184 ]

Hey there, Ace of Diamond fans!

I recently finished watching the second season of the anime, and I just needed more, which brought me to Daiya no A's fanfiction, of course, and the obvious couple MiyuSawa. And so, obviously, after reading quite a few of them, ideas of my own started to plague me, so here I am! With an absolute cliché and my usual obsession with all things fluff. I hope you like it :)

 **Couple:** As I said, Miyuki and Sawamura! I love those two XD

 **Rating:** I think Teenager is a fine rating for this one, even if it's full of fluff.

 **Disclaim:** Ace of Diamond (or Diamond no Ace, or Daiya no A, etc.) isn't mine but Terajima Yuuji's! Kudos to him! What I do with his characters is entirely my fault, however :p

 **Warning:** So, like always this is: shônen-ai, yaoi, slash, boyXboy, boy's love, gay relation, etc. Whatever you wanna call it. Don't like, don't read. And if you – yes you, the hater – reads it anyway, I decline all responsibility for any ill feeling you may have (please don't leave hateful comments. It only shows the narrowness of your own mind. We yaoi-lovers are impervious to it by now.)

 **Timeframe:** Not very specific. Just somewhere after season 2 of the anime – I didn't read the manga – and before the beginning of Miyuki's third year / Sawamura's second year.

Enjoy my attempt at a Miyuki POV! (I apologise for any and all OOCness.)

* * *

 **The Fateful Game**

When Kazuya, can of black coffee in his hand, opened the door to his room, he froze on the threshold. He had definitely not expected the sight that spread before him, and he blinked in silence, taking in the scene. Not that the fact that there were people – almost everyone of first string – invading his space was a surprise, of course not, but they sure had been awfully quick today. He had barely been gone two minutes, only going down to the vending machine for a drink, and the players were already sprawled all over the place, doing a plethora of different things as if they'd been there for hours. But that was not what was truly surprising.

Mimura was facing Shirasu in a game of shôgi that was much further along than the amount of time he had been away should allow, both of them cross-legged on the unoccupied bed, but that, even though it was extremely weird, was not what was truly surprising. The fact that it was Zono, Asô and Higasa that grunted and screamed – or shu-shu-shuuu-ed – in front of the racing video game instead of Kuramochi was rather disturbing, but that was not what was truly surprising. No, what was truly surprising was the circle of first and second-years – including Kuramochi – that had squeezed itself in the middle of the room, with an empty bottle spinning in its centre. Kazuya took off his glasses and rubbed them clean with his tee-shirt before putting them back on his nose. Yep, they were still there.

Kazuya watched as the bottle slowed down and stopped, pointing at Kawakami. "Truth or Dare?" Ono asked, and Kazuya let escape the breath he didn't know he had been holding. Of course it was Truth or Dare. They wouldn't have been playing Spin The Bottle, that would have been ridiculous. Not that this situation wasn't ridiculous as well. Kazuya closed the door behind him and sat down on the edge of his bed closest to the door – he couldn't access the rest of his bed, what with Furuya sitting on the ground and slumped half asleep against it, squeezed in between Kanemaru and Kominato the younger, and with Kijima sprawled on the covers, reading a magazine.

Kawakami had barely answered 'Truth' when Kazuya intervened. "I can't believe you people are playing this game. What are you, a bunch of twelve-year-old girls? And how did you all get in here so fast anyway?"

"Hyahaha! It's a special talent we've trained for: relocate to Miyuki's room in less than a minute. The first-years barely made it this time, but there's improvement." Kuramochi leaned back on his hands, looking at Kazuya with a smirk. "And, it may be a stupid game, but it's fun. You can ask the most embarrassing questions, and make people do your bidding. Isn't that the perfect game for you, Captain?"

While Kazuya pondered the veracity of that declaration, he saw more than one of the players look at him with fright in their eyes at the idea of him joining them. That might have been enough of a reason to accept to play – even though he had really been looking forward to a quiet evening of statistics for the upcoming game and sleep, a lot of sleep – but what really bolstered his choice was, of course, Sawamura. Instead of looking apprehensive – as he should – the idiot pointed a finger at him and bellowed: "Miyuki Kazuya! I dare you to join us!"

Ah, so he dared him, did he? Well then. What kind of senpai would he be if he didn't accept that challenge? Of course, there would be a catch, but it wasn't like Sawamura would even think of such a thing happening. "All right," he said, and a space was made between Ono and Kanemaru, which meant his back was facing the door, and the one sitting opposite him was Sawamura. Perfect.

"So," Ono said, looking at his left-hand neighbour. "Truth, right? Erm… If you could pitch to any catcher in the world, dead or alive, who would you pick?"

Really? They were asking baseball-related questions? How stupid were they? This was _the_ occasion to ask the most embarrassing questions about anything, and they wasted it on questions that they could ask each other any time and that no one would be reluctant to answer? If it continued like this, he would need to teach them how this game was really played. Not that he'd ever played it before, but he had seen enough stupid American films in which it was done, so he knew how it worked.

"Jôjima Kenji," Nori answered after a few moments of reflexion. He then leaned forward and made the empty bottle of ramune spin. Due to its peculiar form it wobbled awkwardly but spun nonetheless, and the neck stopped in front of Kominato. "Truth or Dare?"

Surprisingly – or maybe not, the boy was rather shy at times so he might prefer not to talk – Kominato chose 'Dare'. More surprisingly, Kawakami leaned forward with his lips tilted upwards, and said just loud enough for the group to hear: "Whack Maezono over the head with a pillow." Kominato's face started to become the same colour as his hair, but he dutifully stood up. Kijima, who was obviously listening more to them play than he was reading his magazine, handed him Miyuki's pillow – Kazuya really wanted to protest, but it was the only pillow in the room, so he let it slide just this once.

The first-year took two steps sideways, which placed him just behind Asô and Zono, and took a corner of the pillow in his hands as if it were a bat. Zono was too absorbed in his video game to see the boy lurking behind him – or to have heard the challenged uttered by Kawakami – so when the pillow hit him, he grunted in surprise and ducked forward slightly, losing control over his car onscreen. In an amazing feat of speed, Kominato threw the pillow back on the bed and plonked down on his place in the circle just before Maezono turned around with a glare.

"Who did that?" he said menacingly, but now most of the group were laughing, Kazuya included, and as there was no way to know who the culprit was, he turned back around, grumbling.

Kuramochi now took hold of the middle of the bottle, and twisted it skilfully; Kazuya had expected it to be Kuminato's turn, as he had just been the one challenged, and Kawakami had been up after _he_ 'd been challenged, but they were obviously going around the circle clockwise. That meant that it would be quite some time before it was Kazuya's turn, unfortunately. The bottle stopped in front of Kanemaru. "So?"

"Truth."

Kuramochi's face didn't bode anything good, and on Kazuya's right, Kanemaru straightened. "Where do you hide your porn stash?" Silence followed.

Ah. So there were non-baseball-related questions after all. At least Kuramochi knew how this was usually played – he was an expert in gaming after all. Kanemaru's cheeks got a slightly darker tinge, and he didn't answer for a long time. He finally looked away and said: "I refuse to answer."

"Haha, I knew it! Then your dare is to come over here and let me use my new wrestling move on you!"

Kanemaru's face morphed into an expression of horror, and Sawamura wooped. "You can do it, Kanemaru! Don't worry, it ain't that terrible, you get used to it!"

"I'm not as flexible as you, you idiot!" Kanemaru hissed back, but he stood up nonetheless and went to the middle of the circle, kicking the bottle aside. Everyone scooted back, and a half-choking first-year later, the bottle was back and Sawamura made it spin. Kazuya followed it with his eyes, and slowly but surely, dread filled him when the mouth slowed down and stopped in front of him. This was not supposed to happen. _He_ was the one who was supposed to make _Sawamura_ 's life miserable.

"Oshi! Oshi! Oshi! Truth or Dare, Miyuki Kazuya!" Kazuya wondered which would be the worst option, and cringing internally, he chose 'Dare'. "Catch for me tomorrow!" Sawamura answered, and Kazuya rolled his eyes. He should have known.

"Oi, Bakamura. I told you we only did dares that could be done in the following five minutes. Choose something else," Kuramochi said in a bored tone.

"Eeeeeeh! Why? That's not fair!" Kuramochi just glared until Sawamura relented. "Okay, uhm, then get me an orange juice, Miyuki!"

Well, it could have been worse. "All right," he said, and proffered his hand, palm upwards, towards the pitcher. When Sawamura continued to look at him, uncomprehending, he added: "Money."

"What? No! You've gotta buy me the juice!"

A corner of his mouth angled up. "That's not what I heard. You said 'get me an orange juice', not 'buy me an orange juice'. So I don't have to waste my money on you if I don't want to."

Sawamura's outraged expression was hilarious, and the fact that his vice-captain backed him up on this saying "He's got you there, Bakamura" was even sweeter. Grumbling, the first-year dug through his pockets and produced a couple of hundred-yen coins that he deposited in Kazuya's palm. While he put his shoes back on he heard Kominato spin the bottle, and just before he got outside he saw it stopping in front of Kawakami again.

He took his time going to the vending machine and walking back up with the juice in his hand, but when he entered Kawakami wasn't finished with his dare, which seemed to involve jumping around like a frog and croaking. How elementary-school-ish. Kazuya sat back down and handed Sawamura his juice and the rest of the money – a pierced silver 50 yen coin and three copper 10 yen coins.

Furuya was up, and Kanemaru elbowed him in the ribs to wake him. He groggily rotated the bottle, and when it just pointed at himself, he simply said "I pass" and immediately went back to sleep. Kanemaru spun it next, and when it ended up designating Kuramochi, sweet revenge hung in the air.

"Truth or Dare?" Kanemaru said, an intense gaze directed at his victim.

"Dare," the shortstop answered with a challenge in his eyes, and Kanemaru took a minute to decide what to do.

"Go outside and scream as loud as you can 'I, Kuramochi Yôichi, am in love with Takashima Rei'."

"Wha—," Kuramochi started to say, shock clear in his eyes, but Kanemaru didn't let him finish.

"And leave the door open so we can hear."

Pink started to dust Kuramochi's cheeks, and he glared at his tormentor while Sawamura put his hands in the air with an enthusiastic: "You can do it, Kuramochi-senpai!"

Kuramochi turned towards the idiot next to him and hissed: "Don't ever tell Wakana this, you hear?"

Sawamura's eyebrows went up, confusion clear in his face. "Why would I tell Wakana? What has she got to do with this?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! That's the point!" And the shortstop stomped outside, still in his socks, and yelled his lungs out that he loved the club's vice-president. Kazuya smirked. It would seem that Kuramochi had quite the crush on Sawamura's she's-not-my-girlfriend-childhood-friend. That could be useful information.

The door slammed shut and Kuramochi sat back down with a huff, which meant it was Kazuya's turn. He leaned forward, took the middle of the bottle between two fingers, and spun it slowly, one full circle, two full circles... Unfortunately, he had miscalculated his strength, as the mouth went past his target by a whole quarter, and ended up in front of Furuya. Wrong first-year pitcher.

"Oi, Furuya!" Kanemaru poked him in the cheek until his eyes opened. "The captain has a question for you."

Kazuya waited until those blue irises were trained on him before saying the embarrassing phrase: "Truth or Dare?"

Furuya pondered that for so long Kanemaru poked him again. "Dare."

Perfect! Truth wouldn't have been very interesting, but a dare he could work with. "Tickle Sawamura until he begs you to stop." The ace slowly turned his eyes towards his pitching rival, and a determined aura seemed to leak from his every pore.

Sawamura put his hands up as if to shield himself. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a sec'! Can he do this?" he asked, pointing towards Kazuya. "I've got nothing to do with turn! Why should I be involved?"

Kuramochi smirked. "I don't see why it shouldn't be allowed. And anyway, he's the captain. What am I supposed to do? I'm only vice-captain, and I'm not even the only one. I've got no power to stop this. Sorry Bakamura, but you're the one who invited him to join us, so now you have to take responsibility for your choices and suffer."

As if that was his cue, Furuya lunged forward and attacked Sawamura's ribs with nimble fingers, and howling laughter filled the room, soon joined by the rest of the group while those two were thrashing on the floor. Furuya ended up kneeling between Sawamura's flailing legs, and Kazuya's smile died on his lips even though he couldn't pinpoint why that was. He just hoped this would stop soon.

"Sss— Hahaha! St-Stop! Hahahaha! Please! Furuya!" At once both teenagers stopped moving, and Furuya backed up and leaned back against the bed as if nothing had happened. Ono made the bottle turn, and Sawamura remained on his back, breathing heavily, an arm slung over his eyes. Kazuya looked away, and his eyes fell on the bottle that pointed at him. He groaned.

"Truth or Dare?"

He absolutely didn't want to have to divulge embarrassing things, so he usually picked 'Dare' – not that he liked to have to _do_ embarrassing things either – but this was Ono. And he had asked a stupid baseball related question before. Kazuya took a deep breath and said: "Truth."

The question came immediately, as if he'd been preparing it beforehand. "If you had to spend the day with one of us, but doing only non-baseball stuff, who would you pick?"

What kind of question was that? "I don't know," he answered, which was an honest answer because he truly didn't know, but he knew they wouldn't let him keep it at that.

"Wrong!" Kuramochi's voice chimed in, way too amused for Kazuya's liking. "You have ten seconds to tell us the truth, or you have to do two dares to compensate for that lie."

"What? Since when?"

"Ten, nine, eight…"

Shit! What was he supposed to say now? He never thought about this sort of stuff – his life was about baseball, and the rest was inconsequential. But if he had to spend the day, say, walking around Harajuku or Akihabara, or maybe go to the Ueno zoo or Nikko Edomura…

"… three, two…"

"Sawamura!" Kazuya said, the name spilling from his lips even before he had made a conscious choice. Though now that he thought about it, it was probably the truth anyway. At his name Sawamura abruptly sat up, a huge smile blooming on his face.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Kuramochi commented, an ugly knowing smirk on his lips, and Kazuya didn't like it at all.

The next few questions and dares went by almost unnoticed by Kazuya. He finally opened his now luke-warm coffee and sipped it, while Kominato sang a lullaby in a quavering voice and Ono told everyone how many girls had confessed to him in his life – which amounted to a staggering zero. All the while, Kazuya's gaze remained trained forward – it wasn't his fault that Sawamura was the one sitting opposite him, or that the mirth in his golden eyes or his ridiculously loud cheering was rather endearing; he refused to associate the word 'cute' to the ridiculously stubborn pitcher that kept glancing at him between every turn.

Finally it was Kazuya's turn again, and this time the bottle spun three times before landing on no one else but Sawamura. His smirk turned shark-like while his victim gulped audibly. "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth!" Sawamura immediately shouted, and Kazuya's cheeks stretched further, revealing his teeth predatorily. 'Truth'. Now, this was going to be fun. He just had to find the perfect question. Everyone waited with baited breath for whatever he was going to say next, and some irritating clicking made his eyes stray to Kuramochi who was typing on a phone. On Sawamura's phone. Probably answering a mail from Wakana. And suddenly Kazuya knew what to ask.

"Sawamura." He received a very loud grunt in response. "Are you in love with anyone?"

The loud pitcher went utterly silent, mouth agape, and face reddening so quickly it was a miracle that there wasn't any smoke coming out of his ears because of the heat. "Wha— wha— what?"

"You heard me."

"Don't forget, if you lie you get to do two dares instead!" Kuramochi added, the manipulating little shit, and Kazuya could have hugged him for it. Now, Sawamura was totally going to forget that he could just refuse to answer altogether and go with just one dare instead.

"It's just a yes or no question, nothing complicated about it," Kazuya said nonchalantly before bringing his practically empty can to his lips.

Sawamura's face reddened even more if such a thing was even possible and he ducked down, hiding his eyes behind his hair, the colour of his ears shaming even the ripest of tomatoes. His hands were clasped together in this lap, the pressure turning his knuckles white. "Yes," Sawamura said in the quietest voice Kazuya had ever heard him use, and the silent room exploded in sound, filled with 'for real?'s and 'what?'s and 'since when?'s. Sawamura didn't say anything more, and after a while everyone calmed down enough to resume the game, and Ono turned the bottle.

Slowly the assembly started to forget about that little titbit of information while they played. Kazuya got to do a dare for Kawakami, which consisted of giving his pitching hand a massage for five minutes – it could have been way worse than that, and at least it could be beneficial to baseball in some way – while the rest played on. Soon enough, it was Kazuya's turn again.

Trying his best not to smirk – and obviously failing as proven by the fearful stares – he took a deep breath and carefully turned the bottle. It spun quicker than he had wanted, once, twice, thrice, and on the fourth rotation it slowed down enough to stop barely in front of Sawamura and almost in front of Kominato, but still. He had done it! He got Sawamura again! He let a full, evil grin grace his face, and more than one person recoiled.

"Oh, the things I can make you do!" he said in voice that would make an opponent pitcher run screaming if he had been at bat right now. "So? Truth or Dare?" he added lightly, face neutral again.

Sawamura was staring at him wide-eyed, and it looked like he wasn't breathing. "Erm… Erm…" Sawamura closed his eyes and said: "Truth!"

Kazuya looked at his victim, lips inching upwards, and his gaze was met with trepidation and flaming cheeks. "Sawamura. Who are you in love with?" Hushed whispers went around the circle while Sawamura turned completely crimson again.

"Mi-Miyuki-senpai," Kominato said, blushing. "Isn't that question a bit too personal?"

"So what? It's my question." Kazuya could feel an angry gaze coming from under those pink locks, so he decided to be magnanimous and turned back towards Sawamura. "You know what happens when you refuse to answer to a 'Truth', don't you? You have to do 'Dare' instead."

That statement was only met by pursed lips and utter, continued silence, and Kazuya smirked. This was perfect! Even though he would have loved to get an answer to his question – he could have used that information again and again to rile Sawamura up – he was gleeful at the thought of having some fun now. He was about to open his mouth and say the first humiliating task he could think of, when something occurred to him. Sure, Sawamura was probably in love with his just-a-childhood-friend girl, and he didn't want to admit it because he had been so adamant about her not being his girlfriend. Or he liked some other girl in school that maybe they knew – maybe one of the managers – and he was afraid of one of his teammates letting the cat out of the bag. But. But Kazuya had just had a crazy idea. He didn't even know why he had thought such a thing. But still.

What if Sawamura hadn't refused to answer because he didn't want others to know because of potential – definite – teasing, but because said person was actually on the team, maybe even in the room? Now, that would be too fun for words! Kazuya's smirk grew, and Sawamura gulped audibly. Well, just in case his last crazy hypothesis was true, he changed his initial plan and said instead: "Very well, you'll do a dare, then." With no one who contradicted that declaration, he continued: "Then I dare you to kiss someone."

The reaction was priceless. A number of people gasped and gawked, while Kazuya's favourite victim sputtered and worked his jaw before he managed to speak, and when his answer came, it was ear-splittingly loud. " _WHAT_? YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO THAT!"

Kazuya lifted an eyebrow. "Why? Would you rather answer the 'Truth' question instead?" Sawamura silently shook his head. "I even let you have a choice as to who you can kiss" – and as to where, he could even kiss someone one the hand or something, but Kazuya wouldn't point that out – "so I don't really see what you're complaining about."

"But— I—" Sawamura suddenly grew still. "I call for a double dare!"

"Accepted!" Kuramochi said while Kazuya could only let his confusion bleed through his heartfelt "What?". The shortstop explained.

"Everyone can use the double dare once in the game, when they don't like the dare they have been asked to do. The double dare involves both participants of the round, and is decided by the rest of the players – but I gotta say, it's considered a chicken move." Sawamura looked away while most of the group laughed. Then Kuramochi looked frighteningly serious as he continued. "As the one who started this game," he sighed dramatically, "I shall take it upon me to propose a dare first. But before I do, let me explain my reasoning." He paused, and looked at every player in turn, except Sawamura and Kazuya. "Our dear arsehole of a captain is of course being his arsehole self, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be punished for not restraining himself; and Sawamura chickened out on a dare that isn't actually that horrible or unheard of, so he should be punished for that as well. I therefore put up to vote the following dare." There was a pregnant pause, and everyone held his breath. The shortstop's eyes flicked to Sawamura, before stopping on Kazuya. "For your double dare, you have to kiss each other. On the mouth."

The silence was obliterated when six voices exploded in whispered argument, and Sawamura, redder than he had ever been, put his face in his hands and moaned his despair, no doubt. Kazuya was kind of, sort of frozen on the spot and his breath had caught for no reason. He even felt his face heat – traitorous body which refused to listen to him! So what if his lips were going to touch Sawamura's? It wasn't a big deal! It was just a dare, it didn't mean anything! So, sure, he had never actually kissed anyone – he'd had dozens and dozens of girls declaring their love and whatnot, but his life belonged to baseball, so he'd never had been in a situation where kissing was expected…

"It has been decided with the overwhelming majority of five to one that this double dare is valid! So you know what you have to do." Kuramochi said, and Kazuya felt something he hadn't felt in a long, long, long time: panic. He stomped it down viciously, and took a breath.

"May I request," he said in a voice that sounded like anything but a request, "that Sawamura and I take this dare outside. Alone."

"As long as there is proof that the deed is done…"

Kazuya smirked with a confidence he did not feel. "Oh, you'll know it's 'done'."

"Then go right ahead. This way we won't have to be scarred for life." Kuramochi grimaced. "I really don't need to see you two suck face."

And while Sawamura looked like he was dying on the spot, Kazuya got up with all the dignity he could muster and walked out – fled – his room to the safety of the semi-darkness of the poorly lit walkway, where he shoved his feet in the shoes he had grabbed on his way out. It took the pitcher quite some time to arrive, and when he did, he refused to look Kazuya in the eye, face still completely red. The door to the room was now closed, but that did not mean they were safe from prying eyes – on the contrary. Kazuya walked away, looking for a more secluded spot, and the shuffling of feet behind him meant he was obediently being followed.

Kazuya concentrated on anything but kissing – the sounds of the night, the can that hadn't made it to the bin, the way the electric lights made the shadows stretch. His eyes fell on the door to the changing room of the club's baths, and he headed towards it. No one would be there at this hour, and it was always open. There was also a lamp inside that was lit night and day because the switch was stuck, so they wouldn't be falling over the shoes someone had abandoned in the genkan or something – that happened surprisingly often.

Kazuya slid the door open, and gestured for Sawamura to get inside. The pitcher took a deep breath, squared his shoulder and entered. Kazuya shook his head at the first-year's antics and closed the door behind him. Sawamura had remained within the genkan, so they now stood rather close already, the light half-hidden by a locker obscuring his face in shadow. He stepped even closer, almost cornering Kazuya against the door, and this was not how he had imagined it.

He didn't even know what he had imagined. He didn't even know if he had intended to go through with it. They could bite their own lips, slaps their own faces and pretend to be out of breath or something, and no one would be the wiser – of course, it depended on Sawamura's acting talent, so it might not work at all. Still, it was worth a try; he bet Sawamura hadn't even thought about tricking the others, he was so goddamn naive.

With his back literally against the wall, Kazuya was about to propose his non-kissing solution, when the light caught the pitcher's golden eyes and made them glow with an intensity that rivalled the one that only appeared on the mound. Kazuya had never seen such an intensity up close, and it was mesmerizing. A warm breath caressed his cheek and he could feel his own face flushing with heat. His breathing picked up and a thrilled anticipation settled in his stomach. He realised now, with Sawamura's face angled up towards him, only inches away, that he actually wasn't opposed to kissing the boy standing in front of him. Not opposed at all.

Nothing moved for a few seconds. Tentatively, he inched his head downwards, and his nose bumped Sawamura's. This seemed to spur the pitcher into action, because he tilted his head to the right, closed his eyes and pressed his soft – how come they were so soft? – lips against Kazuya's. Almost immediately, Sawamura captured Kazuya's lower lip between his own, releasing it and doing the same to the upper lip, moulding their mouths together. Shocked, Kazuya could only stand there like an idiot, immobile. Had Sawamura done this before, or was he just a kissing genius or something? Could you learn kissing techniques through shôjo manga?

Sawamura's arms suddenly encircled his neck, a hand slipping in his hair and tugging his head further down, while a small moan was pressed against his lips, and Kazuya's whole body shivered at the sound. Without even realising it, he closed his eyes as well, and his own arms went around Sawamura's torso, fisting the fabric of his tee-shirt, and pulling him flush against his chest. A huff of breath was pushed from Sawamura's lips at the collision of their bodies, and the following inhalation was as loud as a swimmer's before a dive.

Then Sawamura pressed his lips bruisingly hard against Kazuya's, and they opened slightly, and something wet swept across Kazuya's lips and slipped between them, caressing his front teeth. His lungs froze and screamed for air while his brain crashed and burned. The blood rushed through his ears because his heart had pretty much gone haywire, and Kazuya had no idea what to do. Two thoughts remained in the chaos of his mind: Sawamura wanted to _French_ kiss him, and he needed air ASAP. Then he remembered – idiot – that he still had a nose, even though it was a little bit squashed against the pitcher's cheek, so he got the breathing problem solved. Which left him with the other one.

Sawamura wanted to put his tongue in Kazuya's mouth. He pushed the whole question of why the hell the first-year wanted to do that in the first place aside, and concentrated on the other problem. Logically, he should have hated the very idea; not because Sawamura was a guy, of course, but because no one usually let random people stick their tongues in their mouth. And Sawamura was his teammate, and his kouhai to boot, so this whole situation should be wrong, shouldn't it? Then why did it feel so right?

Sawamura pushed harder against him, moaning again, obviously asking to be let inside, and Kazuya's flimsy resistance failed spectacularly. He slanted his lips better over Sawamura's and opened his mouth, thrusting his tongue forward to meet the one already coming towards him. The taste, the wet slide of muscles, the sounds they were making – because, yes, Sawamura wasn't the only one letting small noises escape, to Kazuya's future embarrassment – the overwhelming heat, even the unfortunate encounter with sharp teeth and the increasing lack of air were absolutely amazing, and Kazuya wondered why they hadn't done this before. And when the utter need to breathe forced them apart – still close enough to bump noses while they breathed each other's air, mind you – he wondered why they weren't doing it again.

Kazuya was about to lean in once more, when Sawamura's arms slid off his shoulders and pushed against his chest to be able to step away. Kazuya let go automatically, somewhat stunned and breathing hard still, watching as the young pitcher's face reddened even more and shyly looked away.

"Uhm, we… we should go back," Sawamura half whispered.

The remaining fog that had obscured Kazuya's thinking capacity during the kiss lifted, and disappointment and bitterness got stuck somewhere in his throat. "Right," he croaked, and he stepped aside so that Sawamura could get to the door first; to Kazuya, the fast pace at which the first-year left the building felt like he was fleeing the scene of a crime.

This had been a mistake, of course. Sawamura was in love with someone; someone, not _him_! What the hell was he thinking? Of course they wouldn't do this again! If it hadn't been for the dare, they wouldn't have kissed in the first place! And he would have remained blissfully ignorant of what Sawamura could feel and taste like. Of what it was like to be the sole target of that intense golden gaze. Of what it was like to have that loud, stupid, naïve baseball-addict all quiet and cute and determined to push you against the wall and have his way with you – and why would Kazuya want to have more of that? Where were these thoughts coming from? Was it because it had been his first kiss? Or was it because it was Sawamura?

Kazuya slowly trudged his way back to his room, pondering that last question. That one at least should be easy to answer, right? He just had to imagine that it had been someone else he'd have had to do the dare with. First with someone there was no way in hell he'd let close to his lips – say, Zono. Yeah, no, repulsive. And just imagining Kuramochi getting that ugly mug of his less than an inch away – just, eww!

Maybe it was a 'cute first-year' thing? Not that all first-years were in any way cute – look at Kanemaru, for instance. He really couldn't imagine kissing a stone-faced Furuya – the guy probably wouldn't even understand what was happening anyway – and even trying to get close to a blushing Kominato was suicide – not only because there was a really dangerous older brother out there, but because stealing that poor boy's innocence amounted to buying a one-way ticket to Hell for your soul and a twenty-five-year life-expectancy discount.

No, when he thought about it, the only member of the team, the only person he knew that he could imagine kissing without any unpleasant thoughts – on the contrary, even – was Sawamura. And he was pretty sure that he would have come to that same conclusion before experiencing the whole thing; even though 'the whole thing' was amazing enough to be skewing his judgment big time.

But all that didn't matter, because it wasn't going to happen again. If he'd realised that earlier, he wouldn't have let the pitcher go. He would have stolen another kiss! He would have persuaded him to stay and let him drown in the fantastic sensation of Sawamura's mouth on his! God damn it, he was so stupid! He should have held onto it while it lasted! And now it was too late!

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of his room. Laughter was coming from inside, and Kazuya hesitated before the closed door. Sawamura would be there. And so would all the others. And they all knew what they had just done. Heat crept up Kazuya's face, and he tried to shake it off in vain. He had to get a grip; he'd pretended to be confident and smug when he went out, no way he was coming back all flustered. He forced his lips to stretch into a smirk and entered.

The moment the group of players noticed him they went silent, and he had the time to close the door behind him and slip of his shoes before the whistles and the catcalls started. Kazuya did his best not to look as flushed as Sawamura was right now – not that he looked directly at the pitcher, he didn't know what he would do if he made eye contact right now. In his peripheral vision though, he could see that every inch of Sawamura's skin seemed redder than a lobster.

"Well, well, well! Took you two long enough! Couldn't muster up the courage to do the deed?" Kuramochi laughed. "Not that I doubt you two fulfilled your dare. I mean, you both look like tomatoes and you can't look at each other so you definitely did it. I'm definitely gonna watch your battery tomorrow, ought to be fun!"

Kazuya didn't really want to continue playing this stupid game, but if he backed out now, it would look like the kiss had rattled him, so he sat down in his spot in the circle. Either the group had waited for their return to continue playing, or they'd had the time to do a full circle – Kazuya really had no idea how long Sawamura and him had been gone – because Ono was the one to turn the bottle.

While it spun, Kuramochi smirked and slung an arm over Sawamura's shoulder. Their heads ended up bumping, while the shortstop pulled the younger player into half a headlock, and Kazuya clenched his teeth. Why was Kuramochi always so overtly physical when it came to his interactions with Sawamura? It wasn't like he acted like that with his other teammates. Was it because they were roommates? Or was it something else?

Kazuya's strange thoughts were interrupted by the recipient of his glare. "So, Sawamura. Tell us, is our charismatic captain as good a kisser as he pretends to be?"

Ono and Kanemaru, who had been in the middle of their 'truth or dare' exchange, went as silent as the rest of the group – even the rest of the room. Everyone was eagerly waiting for Sawamura's answer, and even though Kazuya should be kind of upset by the inquiry into his private life, he understood their curiosity; he himself wanted to hear what the pitcher had to say after all.

It took a lowered head, obscured eyes, a swallow and a clearing of the throat before the first-year answered. "I don't know."

Kuramochi guffawed, letting go of Sawamura to hit the floor in his mirth instead, and chuckles filled the room. Kazuya felt the skin of his neck and ears burn with a renewed intensity. That was quite the compliment Sawamura had given him there! Not that he could blame him; Kazuya had been practically fumbling along while Sawamura seemed strangely knowledgeable. Again he wondered if it had really been the first-year's first kiss after all.

"Well, if you don't know, it must mean Miyuki didn't leave much of an impression," Kuramochi said, still laughing. "I'm calling this myth busted!"

Sawamura's head snapped up. "No! That's not what I meant! I mean, I don't know if Miyuki is a good kisser or not, because it was my f… my f-first kiss." It almost looked like the pitcher was going to hide his face in his hands, but he merely fisted the hem of his shirt and continued. "The kiss was good. Is what I'm saying."

"Hyahaha! Looks like another poor bloke fell for his fake charm, didn't you Sawamura?" The pitcher clamped his mouth exaggeratingly shut, obviously intending to remain silent, so Kuramochi focused on his second favourite victim, to Kazuya's utter dismay. The shortstop smirked again. "And you, what do you have to say about Sawamura's performance in the kissing department?"

What did he have to say? Oh, he could say a lot of things. He could say that it was fucking fantastic. He could say that Sawamura tasted and felt amazing. And he could say he wanted to kiss him again and see what else they could do with their tongues and lips that they hadn't had time to try. That he wanted to see for how long they could kiss without stopping – there had to be a way to continue breathing through your nose, right? He could probably wax poetic and go on about kissing Sawamura for half an hour at least. Instead of all that, he smirked and said: "Wouldn't you want to know!"

"What, you're not even belittling his technique? _You_? That must mean that either Sawamura is such a good kisser that you cannot even find one thing to say against it, or you're the one who fell for _his_ charms! Or both solutions, one bringing about the other. Though now I'm starting to doubt in which order those events took place. You two always look awfully close, even for pitcher and a catcher." Kuramochi's face grew thoughtful.

"How does not telling you anything because it annoys you more than anything else I could say, mean that I, as you say, 'fell for his charms'?" Kazuya said, trying to keep the annoyance from his voice. How could a brute like Kuramochi always manage to see through him like that? How could he know what he was saying even when he didn't say anything? Was the guy psychic or something?

Either way, Kuramochi had a point. Kazuya was starting to doubt his own feelings too, as well as when those 'feelings' – whatever they exactly were – had begun. If he was honest, Sawamura had been on his mind since day one – yes, the day the middle schooler had come to visit Seidou and pitched to him once. Not that his pitching had been so overwhelmingly good, of course. That was not why that memory had come to him from time to time before the end of his first year, wondering if they would ever form a battery again. There was something else that made Sawamura different from the other pitchers – something that made him special, and maybe something that wasn't even linked to baseball.

If he was honest, there was no doubt that, while he liked catching for every pitcher of the team, the one he preferred to form a battery with was Sawamura – even when his pitches weren't the best of the team. And sure, he loved to tease Sawamura and categorically refuse to pitch to him just to see him whine – and to hear him complain that Kazuya should catch for him because they were partners. The problem with that was that Sawamura pitched to someone else, and he hated to see how star-struck Sawamura was whenever he was with Chris-senpai. And even though he was saddened by the imminent departure of the third-year, Kazuya was glad in a way that Sawamura wouldn't be able to gush about the other catcher's abilities again. And wasn't that just wrong?

Fingers snapped in front of his eyes, and he finally registered his name being called. He had been so lost in thought – staring straight ahead, AKA straight at Sawamura of all people – that he hadn't followed the game at all. The bottle was pointing at him, and Kuramochi was smirking.

"So, now that you're finally back with us instead of staring at Sawamura like a love-sick puppy, Truth or Dare?"

Kazuya could have groaned in despair. Why did it have to be him, of all people, who had to be chosen when it was Kuramochi's turn? Truth or Dare. Well, he didn't have much of a choice, did he? If he chose Truth, there was no way the shortstop wouldn't go back to the previous kissing situation or the like. And sure, Dare was risky, but it might not be _as_ bad. Kazuya clenched his teeth. "Dare."

If Kuramochi was disappointed by his choice, he didn't show it. "Hmm, let's see. Go tell Coach Kataoka you're quitting the team because you've decided that ballet is your life and you want to wear a tutu every day." Utter, silent astonishment. "We'll go with you of course."

Then Kuramochi's completely crazy idea sunk in, and everybody howled with laughter – all but Kazuya, of course. What the actual fuck was that? That was bloody humiliating! And the type of dare he might have given someone else, if he was completely honest – though not necessarily this exact wording. Where did Kuramochi get his crazy ideas from? Maybe it was the kind of scenarios from his nightmares, and he was making others suffer the same things now as revenge against the world.

"Well? Are you ready to go?"

Kazuya stood up and grumbled: "Sure. _If_ we can find the coach, I'll do your dare."

" _If_ we can find him? It's Friday. At this hour, he's grading papers in his office. So you're in luck, it's just a short walk!"

Kazuya smirked and stood up while he sighed and grumbled inside. There was a rush for the shoe collection that was piled up next to the door, and soon the whole group – Kijima, Mimura and Shirasu who wanted to witness his humiliation as well, the bastards – was on its way to the coach's office. Just like Kuramochi had said, the Modern Literature teacher was still inside, if the lights spilling from the window were anything to go by. While the other players hid around the next corner, obviously trying not to laugh and whispering furiously, Kazuya stood in front of the door. Well. If he was going to do this, he should at least try and have some fun while he was at it, no matter how crazy this whole situation was. The sole advantage of this silly dare was that he could forget about the whole kissing Sawamura conundrum, so he should at least make the most of it.

He knocked on the door with a fierce energy, and a grumbled 'come in' filtered through the panel. Kazuya opened the door wide, but stayed on the threshold. "Coach Kataoka! I have come with a grave matter!" he said theatrically, and Kataoka turned in his chair, obviously startled – even though it wasn't really visible on his face, especially with the sunglasses still on his nose. Why was he still wearing sunglasses inside, at this hour? That was one of the universe's great mysteries right there.

"Why don't you come inside, Miyuki."

"I can't do that, Coach! I'm not worthy of setting foot in your office, not anymore!" One of the man's eyebrows inched up, peeking out from behind the frame of his sunglasses. Kazuya paused dramatically and tilted his head down, putting his own glasses back in the right position with a finger. "You see, Kuramochi has been talking my ears off about a passion of his, and in the beginning it just annoyed me, but he has shown me the beauty of the sport, and I have decided that," he paused again, and he could feel both Kataoka's frown and the abated breath of the others, "I'm leaving the team. I'm quitting baseball! Just like my dear friend Kuramochi, I want to devote my life to the beautiful art of ballet! I want to become a ballerina and wear a tutu every day! There is no need to try to change my mind! Farewell!"

And he turned on his heels and left, head held high. He could only imagine the face the coach was making, but the obnoxious laughter of his team members should make it obvious enough that all this was some kind of joke, so hopefully Kataoka would not hold it against him later. He could always say this stupid game was a team bonding experience, so all he had done was trying to make the team better. And if that had the unfortunate side effect of humiliating himself in front of the coach, well. How could he be captain if he couldn't at least take that?

As he walked back to his room, he received teasing laughs and pats on the shoulder alike, but the only reaction he cared about was Sawamura's. The pitcher was smiling – they all were, and most of it were mocking grins – but this smile seemed simply joyful, supportive and sincere, and Kazuya couldn't stop himself from smiling back. And what he really wanted, was to swoop in and wipe that smile off that lovely mouth, and replace it with moans and lips swollen by too many kisses. Kazuya looked away, the red of his face hopefully hidden by the pervading darkness, and hurried on.

Once returned to his room, the group sat back down in the same circle they were in before, chatting amiably about Kazuya's performance – and Kuramochi complaining about the mention of his name – but Kazuya himself stayed silent. He was feeling tired all of a sudden – tired of this game, and tired of his need to take Sawamura somewhere private and raid his mouth until this feeling abated. He should throw them all out of the room and go to bed.

Before he could voice that thought, however, Sawamura had decidedly turned the bottle – Kazuya had completely forgotten it was the first-year's turn next – and he looked at the spinning glass, mesmerized, as it slowed down and stopped before Kazuya. Ignoring the "Again?" and "Hyaha, you're out of luck!" coming from around him, Kazuya's full attention was on Sawamura, and the lack of 'oshi, oshi, oshi!'. Instead, the pitcher seemed utterly serious and was looking at him with the same intensity as earlier tonight, just before he had captured Kazuya's lips in a searing, amazing kiss.

"Truth or Dare?" he asked, voice strangely breathless and golden eyes flashing. It felt like Sawamura was daring him to refuse the challenge in his eyes. So, hoping he had understood what that look meant, Kazuya looked straight back, chest expanding with hope.

"Dare," he answered.

The reply was instantaneous. "I dare you to kiss me again, Miyuki Kazuya."

Around them, the group exploded in shocked gasps and rapid and loud conversation, but Kazuya ignored them and smiled. "Dare accepted," he said, his voice drowned in the ambient noise, but his expression must have said it all because Sawamura responding grin was blinding. Kuramochi must have caught Kazuya's answer, because he fake gagged and stood up.

"Okay people, get out of here if you don't want your souls to be besmirched forever by the sight of these two sucking face!" While some were quick enough to make their way to the door, others seemed to hesitate, and Kuramochi scowled. "I said EVERYBODY OUT! Give the lovebirds some space, because they need to TALK!" And the shortstop glared meaningfully at Kazuya before striding out, shoes in hand. Soon after that, Kazuya had his room to himself again – himself and Sawamura.

The first year's earlier confidence seemed to have vanished, because now his gaze was directed at the ground, his face was red and he was clasping his hands together. Perhaps Kuramochi was right and they did need to talk – why had Sawamura asked to be kissed again? Why had he accepted? Well, he knew why he had accepted. Because kissing Sawamura was freaking awesome, of course. But why was it? That was the real mystery. Kazuya sighed and sat down on his bed.

After a while, during which Sawamura had stubbornly remained in the same position, Kazuya cleared his throat and patted the space next to him. When he received no reaction, he said "Oi!" and when Sawamura looked at him, startled, he repeated the same action. Slowly, the first-year complied, seating himself at the safe distance of four feet, which was incidentally the very edge of the bed.

Kazuya looked at the opposite, empty bed and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He hated awkward situations like this! He cleared his throat, and tried again. "So… Not that I'm complaining but… Why did you want to kiss me again?" Kazuya glanced at him, and Sawamura's eyes widened dramatically. "Not that I don't want to kiss you!" Kazuya hastened to add, face heating.

Sawamura stood up suddenly, his back towards Kazuya. Then he turned around again, and half yelled "MIYUKI KAZUYA!" while pointing at him. He then took a long, audible breath, and held it, cheeks rounded. "GO OUT WITH ME!"

At first, Kazuya's brain froze. Then, it leapt to the illogical conclusion that Sawamura meant simply go outside, but the intense look and absence of breathing on Sawamura's part meant that it was _dating_ that the pitcher meant. Why would he say that? Why would Sawamura want to go out with him? Sure, that would mean they could kiss indefinitely, so Kazuya was all for it, but wasn't Sawamura the one who complained the loudest, saying how horrible his character was? Sure, Kazuya was the one picking on him the most because it was fun, and made Sawamura complain more, which was fun, and so the cycle never stopped. So why this proposition?

And so he asked that question. "Sure." Wait, no, that wasn't asking why! What the hell, brain? And he couldn't really take it back either. First, because Sawamura's startled breath and breath-taking smile had happened. And second, because he wasn't certain he would have answered anything else in the first place (for reasons to accept, refer to the kissing clause mentioned above). Alright, so he had just accepted to go out with Sawamura. A first year. A teammate. Which was kind of stupid because he didn't really have _time_ to go out with anyone, what with baseball and school and all that. Then again, the same could be said for Sawamura. It was just that he had never wanted to go out with anyone. The effort was just too much, and too annoying, and just— "I have conditions, though," he added.

Sawamura's expanding joy instantly deflated, and a cautious look settled on his face. "O-okay."

"Baseball comes first."

The pitcher looked offended. "Of course!"

"Which means that for you, homework comes first too. No way you're skipping training because of extra classes."

Sawamura's lips transformed into a tempting pout that Kazuya wanted to kiss away, but he held firm and waited until Sawamura reluctantly nodded. He wanted to say something ridiculous like 'I want you to stop gushing about Chris-senpai' or 'I want you to only pitch to me', but that was impossible and rather hypocritical – he was the one refusing to catch for Sawamura most of the time, and the pitcher's crazy character was what had gotten his senpai out of his depression anyway, so saying anything like that would be out of the question. And wouldn't that seem too controlling anyway? If he started this like that, it might be over before it had started.

"I want you to call me Kazuya," he said instead, surprising himself again. It was nice if he could get some warning from his subconscious next time. "When we're alone," he amended. He wasn't sure he could survive Kuramochi's taunting if Sawamura went around screaming at him with his first name alone. Or that he could control himself when it happened, and not drag the pitcher to a dark corner somewhere and make him shut up in a more delightful way.

Sawamura had his mouth opened in a silent little 'o'. Then it closed with a smack. "Then you call me Eijun."

Kazuya stared, and tested the name out in his mind. Eijun. _Eijun_. Yes, that could work. "All right. Last condition. You have to tell me why you asked me to go out with you."

Sawamura's skin reddened so quickly it was a miracle steam wasn't coming off of it in waves. He took a deep breath and mumbled something so quickly Kazuya didn't catch it. "What?" he said, and Sawamura glanced at him with both anger and pleading in his eyes.

"Ilikeyou," the first-year said again, but this time Kazuya caught the meaning of the words.

"What?" he said again, but this time not because he hadn't heard – he didn't understand.

"I. LIKE. YOU!" Sawamura screamed in his face.

"Yes, I heard you! And I don't get it! You like me. As in _like_ like me, right? Why? Don't you always say I've such a horrible character no one would ever like me? And didn't you say earlier you were in love with someone? So how can you both say that and then ask me to— Wait." Wait a minute. No, this couldn't be right. There was no way Sawamura was… This all just stemmed from their earlier kiss, right? This wasn't because Sawamura…

"I was talking about you, you idiot!"

"Don't call me an idiot, idiot!" Kazuya replied automatically, but his mind was reeling. Sawamura _liked_ him. Sawamura was maybe _in love_ with him. And he had been for longer than today, obviously. And Kazuya hadn't seen anything. Sawamura was practically an open book, and Kazuya hadn't even noticed something so huge? This was crazy! And the craziest of all was that he didn't know what he felt himself, so now he felt like he was abusing the first-year somehow.

Tears were forming in Sawamura's eyes, and his scrambled brain was not cooperating. What was he supposed to do now? The salty water accumulated more around angrily batting lashes. "Sawam—," he stopped himself and amended, "Eijun." Sawamura's eyes widened a fraction, and a single tear spilled over and made its way down along a rounded cheekbone. "I'm just… surprised. And confused. I'm not rejecting you or anything. It's just… I don't know… I mean…" He turned his eyes away, unable to continue looking into those gold, golden eyes. "I'm not sure what—"

"That's okay!"

Kazuya frowned. "What?"

"You don't like me the way I like you. That's okay. I didn't think you would feel like that anyway. But, you will go out on a date with me, right?" Kazuya nodded, unable to voice that thought for some reason. "Then it's okay. You don't have to decide how you fell about me right now. You just have to think of me as a potential b—. A b—." Sawamura inhale through his nose, closed his eyes and rushed the word out: "Boyfriend."

"Boyfriend," Kazuya repeated, a bit dazed. Right. So Sawamura didn't mind if Kazuya didn't share his feelings right now, as long as he gave him a chance. Boyfriend. Could Sawamura, loud, stupid Sawamura, cute, determined Sawamura, become Kazuya's boyfriend? Or rather, could Kazuya, with all his million flaws that had driven everyone away until now, become someone's boyfriend?

"You know I won't change, right? I'll still be as 'nasty' as you always say I am, even if we go out."

"Yes."

"And I'm probably horrible boyfriend material, just so you know."

"I know."

"Gee, thanks!" Kazuya muttered under his breath. "You can't blame me when I break your heart in the end."

"You can't blame me when I capture yours instead."

That could only make Kazuya smile. He might have been ensnared already. It wasn't like there was anyone else he could think of who he wanted as a boyfriend – or girlfriend – instead. "Deal." Sawamura's smile was so bright, the sun looked dull in comparison. This time when Kazuya patted the bed next to him, the pitcher sat down close enough for their knees to touch.

Kazuya smirked. " _Eijun_!" he half chanted, and Sawamura cautiously leaned backwards.

"Yes, K-Kazuya." Hearing his first name said like that – not his full name, and not yelled at him from the other side of the bullpen – almost made him loose his precious trademark leer. Almost.

"I think there was a dare I still haven't fulfilled." And instead of answering verbally, Sawamura answered with his lips. First, he smiled dazzlingly. Then, he took hold of Kazuya's shoulders, and joined their lips in a kiss just as searing – or, no, this time the dancing of tongues was even more intense – as before, and Kazuya thought to himself that yes, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. If he could get this every day, he'd sure do his best to keep Sawamura – Eijun – at his side for as long as possible.

The next morning, when they sat next to each other at breakfast and their elbows and knees brushed obnoxiously often, Kuramochi smirked as if he'd single-handedly won them the Summer Kôshien. Kazuya resisted his desire to flip him the bird – he shouldn't set the wrong example as team captain. He'd done that often enough already. And so what if Kuramochi thought he'd orchestrated the whole thing with that one kiss? It wasn't exactly wrong anyway. Kazuya shamelessly trailed his fingers over Eijun's hand, and Kuramochi made fake gagging noises. He smirked. Yes, everything was great! It was great indeed!

THE END

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Jajaaaan! I hope you liked it ;) Let me know if you did!

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